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Friday, 30 April 2004
VICTORIAN MONTHLY CLIMATE SUMMARY (April
2004)
A little Spring in April's Autumn for Victoria
Victoria
April provided contrasting conditions across Victoria with
Spring like temperatures setting new April
temperature records during the middle of the month which were followed
by
a series of cold fronts that culminated with record breaking rains over
Eastern Victoria. Towns that set new temperature
records are listed in Table 1 and Table 2. Towns
that set
new rainfall records for April are listed in Table 3.
Rainfall across
Victoria ranged from zero in the North West of the state to over twice
the monthly average in the Gippsland area. The heaviest falls occurred
on the 23rd and 24th with some towns recording over 100mm in a day, for
records see Table 3. Follow up rains are still
needed
to rescue the Gippsland area from the rainfall deficiencies experienced
over the last 21 months, see BoM
Drought Statement.
For the April rainfall decile map of Victoria, click here.
For the total rainfall map, click here.
Temperatures across
Victoria finished slightly above average. Temperatures well above
average by the half way mark of April after a warm start to the
month and balanced by cooler temperatures during the second half of the
month,
see Table 4. The warmest period of the month was
the 14th and 15th with very
warm nights experienced across the state followed by very warm daytime
temperatures. The top temperature of 36.6°C at Walpeup was the
first time a temperature over 35°C has been recorded in Victoria so
late in Autumn since 17th April 1922 when Mildura reached
36.7°C. Towns that broke records can be found in Table 1 and Table 2.
For the April maximum temperature anomaly map of Victoria,
click here.
For the April minimum temperature anomaly map of Victoria, click here.
Melbourne
In Melbourne over April, the average maximum temperature was 21.4°C
(normal 20.6°C), whilst the average minimum temperature was
12.2°C (normal 11.8°C). In the city, 51.8 mm of rain was
recorded (normal 52.7 mm).
- The lowest temperature was 6.9°C recorded on the 20th.
- The highest temperature, 32.5°C, was recorded on the
14th and was the warmest April day in 19 years.
- Melbourne set a new April warmest minimum temperature of
23.0°C overnight to 9am on the 15th, beating the previous record of
22.2 set in 1887.
- The highest daily fall was 23mm on the 23rd.
- Sunshine hours were below average as a result of the cool
cloudy days during the second half of April.
- There were two thunderstorms observed in Melbourne.
On the 22nd and 29th.
Climate averages for Victoria towns are available here.
To find out what happened in April 2003, click here.
For further information contact:
Mr Neal Moodie, Victorian Climate Centre, Phone: (03) 9669 4906 (BH)
Dr Harvey Stern, Victorian Climate Centre, Phone: (03) 9669 4949 (BH)
AH: Phone: (03) 9669 4916
For help with climate information and past data, please email climate.vic@bom.gov.au
Table 1
Record Highest Maximum Temperature for April
|
|
Highest temperature
in April 2004 (°C) |
Previous Highest
for April |
Years of
record |
Kerang
|
36
|
on 14th
|
34.4
|
on 12th in 1985
|
41
|
Polkemmet
|
35.2 |
on 14th
|
34.6
|
on 3rd
in 1986
|
46
|
LaTrobe Valley
|
35
|
on 14th
|
33.9
|
on 4th
in 1986
|
19
|
Bendigo
|
33.7
|
on 14th
|
30.5
|
on 3rd
in 2002
|
11
|
Cranbourne
|
32.3
|
on 14th
|
30
|
on 4th
in 1992
|
13
|
Castlemaine
|
32.2
|
on 14th
|
31.6
|
on 18th
in 1967
|
37
|
Wilsons Promontory
|
29.2
|
on 14th
|
29.0
|
on 3rd
1986
|
47
|
Table 2
29222
Record Highest Minimum Temperature for April
|
|
Highest temperature
in April 2004 (°C) |
Previous Highest
for April |
Years of
record |
Lakes Entrance
|
23.5
|
on 15th
|
18.9
|
on 12th in 1968
|
37
|
Melbourne
|
23
|
on 15th
|
22.2
|
on 2nd
in 1887
|
47
|
Combienbar
|
22.7
|
on 15th
|
19.6
|
on 10th
in 2002
|
8
|
Strathbogie
|
21.5
|
on 15th
|
16.3
|
on 6th
in 1992
|
29
|
Scoresby
|
21.9
|
on 15th
|
21
|
on 18th
in 1980
|
38
|
Point Hicks
|
21.4
|
on 15th
|
20.1
|
on 10th
in 1969
|
36
|
Rutherglen
|
21
|
on 15th
|
19.9
|
on 5th
in 1985
|
38
|
Orbost
|
21
|
on 15th
|
18.4
|
on 1st
in 1959
|
46
|
Essendon Airport
|
21
|
on 15th
|
20.7
|
on 9th
in 1948
|
64
|
Laverton RAAF
|
20.6
|
on 15th
|
20.5
|
on 5th
in 1992
|
59
|
Tatura
|
20.5
|
on 15th
|
19.8
|
on 5th
in 1989
|
38
|
Kyabram
|
20.4
|
on 15th
|
19.2
|
on 5th
in 1989
|
38
|
Table 3
Record Highest Daily Rainfall for April
|
|
Highest daily rainfall
in April 2004 (mm) |
Previous highest rainfall
for April (mm)
|
Years of
record |
| Lindenow |
154 |
on 24th |
77.6 |
on 21st 1990
|
99
|
Mt Moornapa
|
130
|
on 24th |
87
|
on 22nd 2001
|
9 |
| East Sale |
105.8 |
on 24th |
96 |
on 21st 1984 |
61 |
| Bairnsdale |
103.2 |
on 24th |
66.6 |
on 22nd 1990 |
23 |
| Maffra |
89 |
on 24th |
40.8 |
on 17th 2001 |
10 |
Table 4
Summary statistics for April 2004
|
|
Maximum temperatures
for April
(°C) |
Minimum temperatures
for April
(°C) |
Rainfall
for April
(mm) |
| Mean for 2004 |
Difference from normal |
Long term normal |
Mean for 2004 |
Difference from normal |
Long term normal |
Total for 2004 |
Normal total |
| Albury |
24 |
above
|
22.4 |
8.7 |
above
|
8.2 |
17.6 |
51.7 |
| Alpine |
10 |
above
|
8.4 |
3 |
above
|
1.4 |
70
|
132.5 |
| Bairnsdale |
21.3 |
above
|
20.5 |
9.2 |
above
|
8.5 |
181 |
55.7 |
| Ballarat |
18.9
|
above
|
18.0 |
8.3 |
above
|
7.9 |
30.4 |
55.1 |
| Benalla |
23.6 |
above
|
22.1 |
8.9 |
above
|
8.5 |
23.6 |
56.0 |
| Bendigo |
22.5 |
above
|
20.8 |
8.6 |
below
|
12.8 |
5.8 |
47.9 |
| Colac |
18.9 |
below
|
19.6 |
9.8 |
below
|
10.4 |
26.2 |
64.4 |
| Echuca |
23.7 |
above
|
22.5 |
9.3 |
below
|
9.6 |
12.7 |
35.3 |
| Geelong |
20.2 |
above
|
19.9 |
10 |
above
|
9.3 |
40
|
56.2 |
| Hamilton |
19.8
|
even
|
19.8 |
8.5 |
above
|
8.2 |
21 |
37.7 |
| Horsham
(Polkemmet) |
23 |
above
|
21.6 |
7.5
|
below
|
8.8 |
10
|
30.3 |
| Horsham
(Longerenong) |
22.7 |
above
|
21.8 |
8 |
below
|
8.6 |
6.2
|
29.0 |
| Latrobe
Valley |
21.5 |
above
|
20.3 |
9.3 |
above
|
8.4 |
51.2
|
60.7 |
| Maryborough |
21.7 |
above
|
20.9 |
8.8 |
above
|
8.7 |
10.4
|
44.5 |
| Melbourne |
21.4 |
above
|
20.6 |
12.2 |
above
|
11.8 |
51.8 |
52.7 |
| Mildura |
25.6 |
above
|
23.5 |
10.1 |
below
|
10.5 |
0 |
24.2 |
| Mornington
Peninsula |
19.9 |
above
|
18.7 |
10.3 |
below
|
11.7 |
56.2
|
60.6 |
| Nhill |
23.2 |
above
|
21.9 |
6.9
|
below
|
7.2 |
5.2
|
28.9 |
| Orbost |
21.3 |
even
|
21.3 |
10.9 |
above
|
9.6 |
95.6 |
79.8 |
| Ouyen |
25.3 |
above
|
23.5 |
9.8 |
below
|
10.0 |
3 |
26.6 |
| Portland |
18 |
below
|
18.2 |
9.3 |
below
|
9.8 |
56.4 |
59.3 |
| Sale |
21.2 |
above
|
20.4 |
9.1 |
above
|
8.9 |
133.8 |
52.9 |
| Seymour |
22.9 |
above
|
21.4 |
9.2 |
above
|
8.8 |
12.4 |
45.0 |
| Shepparton |
23.3 |
above
|
21.4 |
8.9
|
above
|
8.8 |
6.6 |
46.8 |
| Stawell |
21.6 |
above
|
20.2 |
8.8 |
above
|
8.8 |
14.8
|
45.2 |
| Swan
Hill |
24.7 |
above
|
23.0 |
9.2 |
below
|
10.4 |
4.2 |
31.1 |
| Wangaratta |
23.7 |
above
|
22.2 |
5.9
|
below
|
10.8 |
20.8
|
44.5 |
| Warracknabeal |
23.6 |
above
|
22.1 |
9.2 |
above
|
9.1 |
3.2 |
32.8 |
| Warrnambool |
19.5 |
above
|
18.8 |
8.6 |
below
|
9.0 |
40.4
|
67.8 |
| Wonthaggi |
19.6 |
even
|
19.6 |
10.8 |
above
|
10.3 |
73.3
|
77.4 |
| Yarra
Glen |
20.9 |
above
|
20.3 |
7.6 |
above
|
5.5 |
52.8 |
73.6 |
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